Product Management When Software Creation Is Cheap

YouTube/Substack · YouTube · Article

• Core thesis: the cost of a first software version has collapsed, shifting the PM job from rationing scarce engineering capacity to classifying an abundance of rapidly-built tools. Microsoft’s 1M+ Power Platform assets are the canonical case study — half-real tools nobody owns, spreading into systems of record.
• Introduces a four-state classification ladder: personal tool → team beta → supported internal product → customer-facing product. Specific user-count and risk thresholds gate promotion between levels.
• Key new PM skill: identifying demotion triggers — recognising when a supported tool no longer justifies maintenance costs. “Supported” is not a permanent state.
• Practical takeaway: two ready-to-use prompts for classifying employee-built tools into their actual production tier and auditing existing tools for demotion eligibility. The PM job in the era of cheap software is governance, not allocation.